Two-fers Tuesday, Part One: Waste Not, Want Not

At the risk of sounding entirely too pretentious, thinking that I've already *maybe* collected a teensy bit of a following, my sincerest apologies for my lack of posting and promise-keeping for yesterday's pie match. In order to win your forgiveness, I'm making it a Tuesday filled with Two-fers. What does this mean, you may ask? Well, you'll get TWO posts, TWO pumpkin pie recipes, and TWO uses for crust.

I get disproportionate pleasure out of multitasking successfully and creatively. In fact, I already know that while my siblings and I tease my mother for her incessant use of "are you going to take the high road?", my children will pick at my daily usage of "I killed two birds with one stone!"...seriously, is there any greater thrill?

Bringing this to cooking, one of my greatest pet peeves, is wasting. For instance, the peppermint angel food cake I made Friday required 12 egg whites, and I swear a part of me died when I didn't have the energy to utilize the now disposed of 12 egg yolks. I had an energy-sapping, freak accident. A freak KITCHEN accident in which the latest Real Housewives of Beverly Hills distracted me from my egg white whipping, at which point my very, terribly long hair somehow made contact with the beaters, and before I knew it, there was an egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, beating horror of a mess attached to the side of my head. (silver lining)

Back to the crust and pardon the digression, but I had to share. Anyone who has ever made a pie crust from scratch will surely understand that there are always scrappings. And, scrappings allow for both successful and creative multitasking - joy!

What can you do with yours?

I grew up taking the leftover crust, cookie-cutting it into fun shapes, covering it in cinnamon sugar, and baking it at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

Are you looking for a chocolatey option? Take scraps of approximately 2 inch diameter in whatever shape you like. Brush the scrap with melted butter and place a couple of chocolate chips in the middle. Then fold the scrap over (like a dumpling), covering the buttery, chocolate goodness and press all edges so the melted filling won't leak out. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 8 minutes.

What's up next? A Food Network fight to the finish! Ms. Paula Dean's Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie  versus Claire Robinson's Ginger Pumpkin Tart.

In the meantime, what do you do with your leftover scraps?